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Several former B1G players named to PFWA’s All-Rookie team

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Most of the NFL season has come to a close, with just the AFC Championship Game, NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl remaining on the schedule. That means it’s time to hand out some accolades.

On Tuesday, the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) released its All-Rookie team from the 2021 season. There are several former B1G names who made the list.

Here’s a look at the former B1G stars who had an outstanding first year in the league, making the PFWA cut:

  • OT: Rashawn Slater, Los Angeles Chargers (Northwestern)
  • DL: Odafe Oweh, Baltimore Ravens (Penn State)
  • DL: Kwity Paye, Indianapolis Colts (Michigan)
  • LB: Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys (Penn State)
  • CB: Greg Newsome II, Cleveland Browns (Northwestern)
  • ST: Nick Niemann, Los Angeles Chargers (Iowa)

Penn State and Northwestern each had two players make the cut while Michigan and Iowa each had one.

Also announced on Tuesday, former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons was named PFWA’s Defensive Rookie of the Year and NFL Rookie of the Year after an outstanding first season with the Cowboys.

As a rookie, Parsons started in all 16 regular season games for the Cowboys. He racked up 79 total tackles on the year, 59 of which were solo stops. He also totaled 13 sacks and forced 3 fumbles.

Below is the complete All-Rookie team from PFWA:

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB